About the Erskine Method Online Media

The Erskine Method Online Media . . . . . . . . . . 95

PREFACEWelcome to the Erskine Method.

Whether you are just considering taking up the drums and have come home with your first pair of sticks, or you are an experienced player who wishes to revisit some basics and challenge yourself to learn new things, this book and companion video will clarify most of the mechanical and musical ways of drumming for you .

I have written this book as if I were explaining the "how to" of drumming to a best friend or student . I've tried to make these explanations as close as possible to what a private lesson would be like with me . The video com-pletes the picture, with clear explanations, examples and musical performances .

Audio tracks are included with the online media; there are play-along tracks without drums as well as complete

band tracks with which you can listen to my drumming approach and style . (I also include video examples of my own drumming with some of these tracks .) You are encouraged to listen to as many different drummers and styles of music as possible . Just as hungry readers increase their knowledge and vocabulary with books, musicians learn the most by listening to music and then applying and incorporating what they've heard into their own musical speech . Music is a language . Let's have fun speaking it now .

Good Luck in Life and Music … and Have Fun!

Sincerely,

Peter Erskine

Acknowledgements

I'd like to offer my thanks to all of the good people at Alfred Music . A word of appreciation as well to colleagues Dan Morris and Aaron Serfaty for their help with some of the exercises and concepts: thank you . Thanks also to my students from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music's jazz drumming program for their invaluable assistance in this living laboratory of music study I call my teaching studio; partic-ular appreciation to Matt Slocum for his constant enthusiasm, help, and expert transcriptions .

My editor, Dave Black, and his staff have the experience and work ethic to guarantee that all of the infor mation contained herein is accurate and user-friendly . I'd also like to express my gratitude for the generosity of the various record labels, composers and arrangers who allowed their work to be included in the book and media . Bravo to my son, (the director of the video) Taichi Erskine, and his production company, Image Farm . Big thanks to the musicians who play in the video . I encourage you to take advantage of all of the play-along tracks that are included . Finally, my biggest thanks go out to my family, who tolerated long absences away from them while I locked myself away in my studio to complete Drumset Essentials and the Erskine Method, works that pretty much tell it like it all is when it comes to my understanding of drumming .